Posts Tagged ‘Cyclesomatic’

For the past few years, local bike advocacy group, Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, has hosted a month long bike event called Cyclesomatic. One part of that event is the Bike to City Hall ride – which always happens on a work day, early in the morning. I’ve always wanted to participate in this ride, but couldn’t find the time to bike into Dallas from my house in Richardson, then back out to my job in Carrollton.

Finally, on their sixth year, I made the time. I saw a post on Facebook that a local cyclist friend was riding down early that morning to catch the event. I checked my calendar and workload, and for once, my morning was meeting and deadline free. I decided to join him.

We met up at a local shopping center in Richardson at about 6:00 am., when it was still dark and I was still half asleep. Most of the ride through town was before rush hour and traffic was pretty light. The great thing about riding into downtown Dallas from Richardson, is that most of the route is multi-purpose trail. Once we hit the Cottonwood Creek Trail, it was just a matter of jumping onto the White Rock Creek Trail then the Santa Fe Trail – which takes us mostly into downtown Dallas.

Overall, we rode about 25 miles in about an hour and a half – a slow but fun pace. I really enjoyed the view of White Rock Lake, just before the sun came up.

We met up with many other riders at Main Street Park. After hanging out for a bit and taking a few pictures, the whole group – including some Dallas City Council members – headed out for a really slow paced ride to Dallas City Hall. This was obviously a ride to make a statement. As we rolled safely through the morning, rush hour traffic, there were lots of waves to and from our parade of two-wheeled advocates.

When we arrived at Dallas City Hall, the whole group gathered outside to listen to a presentation from the City Council members who rode with us, as well as a few other city officials. Our new, local advocacy group, The Dallas Bicycle Coalition, even go a special recognition certificate for all of their efforts.

Overall it was a great morning, and I hope to do this ride again. Here are a few more pics from the event. Click here to see the entire set.

This is the 4th year that Bike Friendly Oak Cliffwill host Cyclesomatic, and it just keeps getting better. Cyclesomatic is “a celebration of all things bicycle! Back and better than ever, this year’s event will span the entire month of October, the best month for riding in North Texas!”

Catch the DART Red Line at Arapaho Station and head into Dallas. From there, take a spin around town, then head over to Lake Cliff Park in Oak Cliff. Riders are welcome to spend the day with with the BFR group and ride back after 6:00 or head back whenever they want.

Date: Saturday, October 22Time: Arapaho Station: 10:50 am (for the 10:55 train);
arrive West End Station: 11:28 am.
Ride out to Lake Cliff Park, Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX @ Crawford and 5th St to arrive by noon.Place: DART Arapaho StationDetails: See BelowRSVP:Via FacebookBring:– Money for the train – $1.75 for one way, $4.00 for a day pass.
– Money for food at the Bike Fair. There will also be a swap meet.
– If you plan to spend the entire day at the Fair and ride back after 6, bring your lights. The sun will be setting at about 6:45.

Note: DART will be running express trains to the State Fair this Saturday that say SPECIAL / STATE FAIR. These special trains will not make any stops downtown except for MLK station. So if you don’t catch the train with the group, take a Red Line train with a sign saying either Westmoreland or Cedars.